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Blog Site Discontinued June 23, 2017

Welcome. This blog site, healthy eating and food safety, has been discontinued as of June 23, 2017. I look forward to your comments and feedback regarding use of this tool to disseminate educational information.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Celebrate Baking During the Month of February

Celebrate Baking During the Month of
February

What is your favorite baking memory? Baking traditions,
recipes and family heritage are handed down through each generation. Bake for
Family Fun Month is the perfect time to share the goodness of baking with your
family.

Here are some tips for incorporating healthy ingredients
into baked goods made with family members.

·Using
high-quality products, like premium chocolate and pure vanilla extract, can pay
off. More-flavorful ingredients make you less likely to miss any calories
you've cut by reducing or substituting other ingredients.

·Make
the switch to using beans in place of shortening to make brownies. To make the
switch, pulse cannellini beans, black beans, or lentils in a food processor
with a little water, then replace half
the butter, oil, or shortening in your
baked goods with an equal amount of the puree. I have made brownies with black beans
and people were not aware beans were added.

·For a
lighter spin on cream cheese frosting, which is typically made with full-fat
cream cheese and butter, beat together an eight-ounce block of reduced-fat
cream cheese, one cup of powdered sugar, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.
The fluffy icing contains a mere 59 calories and three grams of fat per
tablespoon.

·Buttercream
can pack more than 140 calories and five grams of fat in just two tablespoons. Instead,
frost cakes with nonfat whipped topping or sift powdered sugar,
which contains just 10 calories per teaspoon.

·The
next time you make chocolate chip cookies, use one cup of mini morsels instead
of two cups of the regular kind to reduce calories and fat. The smaller pieces
provide more chips per bite, so you still feel as if you're getting plenty of
chocolate. The same principle can be applied to other calorie-dense
ingredients, like nuts and dried fruit, by finely chopping half the amount
called for in the recipe.

·Replacing
one cup of white flour with the whole wheat kind adds 10 grams of heart-healthy
fiber to baked items. Since whole grains
are coarser than refined ones, start with a fifty-fifty mix.When baking a white cake I will typically
stay with all purpose flour for a better texture.

·Sugar
adds sweetness to baked goods. I typically cut the sugar by 25 percent when
baking.This change does not impact the
texture or flavor.

For additional information on Bake for Family Fund Month, check out the Home
Baking Association website at http://www.homebaking.org/familyfunEach week there will be designated
recipes, baking activities and opportunities to spend time together in the
kitchen. From toddler to grandparent - baking is the perfect family activity!

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